SEOUL Brothers - First Day in South Korea

i just got up a few minutes ago. it's 8:36am Korea time. sean picked me up from the airport lastnight and we didn't get to his town until about 10pm (i found out he lives in a suburb of seoul, 40 mins south)

sean is one of my closest friends from college, when i went to san francisco state university. he and i were in an international co-ed business fraternity, delta sigma pi, and in the same pledge class together. he moved back to seoul about 5 years ago and i haven't seen him since. i always told him that i'd visit him one day in south korea. today was apparently was the day. he couldn't believe it ;)

i was somewhat still tired from the plane ride, but hungry. so we went to eat after taking a quick walking tour around his neighborhood. it was about 50-55 degrees out. the streets are narrow and the atmosphere was a dichotomy of quaint and busy. there are lots and lots of small restaurants and bars in korea, overall. sean says that all koreans do is eat and drink. they work and study such long hours and so hard that that is all they have a chance to do. according to him, many don't have the energy or luxury of time to fully develop other types of outside-work activities, like running and hiking, biking, playing soccer, etc. i mentioned the hardcore climbing i've heard about, and he said that's an exception, rather than the rule. the majority leave work late and go out to eat... and drink soju!

so, when in rome...














we walked by about 8-9 korean bbq places within only a two block radius in his neighborhood - and that's not counting the other types of food establishments. he chose a restaurant that specialized in pork bbq. (apparently, how they differentiate themselves in a highly competitive field of dozens of the same types of restaurants per block.. is by specializing in very specific offerings, such as oysters and crab vs. fish, steak and eggs, korean sushi vs. japanese sushi, pork bbq vs. beef bbq, korean beer vs. american beer vs. german beer, etc! there seemed to be many of each.)

they started up a small grill plate over a stove top and slapped on two slabs of 1/2 inch pork cuts and brought a liter of beer, and all those small appetizer dishes that usualy come with kbq. it was really good. it included a bunch of pork slabs to bbq, two liters of CASS beer (korean beers are generally "softer" flavored - i.e. tastes less bold than american or european beers. think slightly watered down flavor), and a bottle of soju korean rice wine, which is 19% alcohol and has an easy tasteless first sip, but can be followed by a bitter or sweet aftertaste, depending on your mood. seriously. apparently, depending on your mood, it can alter the the way it tastes! i took this in mind when i tried my second sip and imagined sweeter, and amazingly, it was! it was only $15 for the meal for both of us. i guess that's the benefit of having 5 restaurants competing per building here in korea - affordable food! (though, i'm sure thailand will blow that out of the water)

btw, i felt like a baller with all the korean won i exchanged for some of the US dollars i traded in at the airport. the exchange rate right now is about 1,260 won/ $1 USD, so i have a pimp wad in my pocket (the largest bill they have is 10,000 won, which is only about $8).


sean has a lunch appointment today with two highschool students he is tutoring in written english and he invited me to come along and meet them. he already told them that i was coming, so they're excited to meet an american friend of his. so, i'll get my first experience meeting some international english students. should be interesting ;) not sure what else we will be doing today. i'm sure we'll be exploring around either seoul, or the surrounding area, but i'll make sure to bring my camera.